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Author: Craig Bass

Immediate Steps to Take When an Alzheimer’s Patient Starts Wandering

Posted on by Craig Bass

Ask a doctor about Alzheimer’s and you’ll likely learn that by the time you’re 80, you have a 50/50 shot of having this form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease affects everyone differently.

Some patients become agitated and angry, but others become more doting and loving. Some become housebound while others develop an urgency to get outside and walk. If you worry that your dad is going to start wandering, these steps make it easy for everyone.

Get a Smartwatch or Smartphone and Turn on GPS Tracking

If you can, get your dad to carry a smartphone or smartwatch. Make sure GPS tracking is turned on. If it is and he gets outside, you’ll know where he is and can step in and redirect him home when needed.

Place Locks in Unusual Places

Your dad is going to figure out standard locks. Put them in different places to trick him. Install a sliding latch low to the floor or on the top of the door sill. Use a pressurized shower curtain rod to keep him from being able to open a sliding door or window.

Put in Alarms

Door and window alarms help keep your dad from wandering off. If he does open a door or window to go outside, you’ll hear the alarm and follow him before he has a chance to go far. Bed alarms also help you know if he’s gotten out of bed.

When your dad does get outside, he may not want to come back inside immediately. Let him walk. What’s important is that someone has joined him and can help him find his way back home when he’s tired of walking.

Make Sure He Has Around-the-Clock Care

Someone needs to be on-duty at all hours. Your dad’s sleep patterns may change because of Alzheimer’s. You may find that he’s only sleeping two or three hours a day. If someone is alert when you’re trying to sleep, it helps.

When you’re up, the person who took the late-night shift can get some sleep. Around-the-clock care will make it easy. One way to do this is by pairing family caregivers with professional caregivers.

Talk to a senior care agency about your dad’s symptoms with Alzheimer’s disease. Let the specialist know if he’s prone to angry outbursts, has developed a sweet tooth that makes mealtime difficult to manage, or is starting to wander.

A customized senior care plan ensures he’s safe and as happy as he can be. It also gives you the chance to take breaks as often as needed so that you get to reduce stress and enjoy a level of socialization that you might otherwise skip.

 

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Clermont, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Common Causes of Kidney Disease in Older Adults

Posted on by Craig Bass

Over time, some people find their kidneys slowly stop working correctly. Chronic kidney disease affects 37 million adults in the U.S. Early detection is important as it can keep the disease from progressing into kidney failure.

What are the common causes of kidney disease? March is National Kidney Month. It’s a good time to take a closer look at chronic kidney disease to get a better understanding of why it happens.

There Are Two Main Causes

Two things stand out as the reason kidney disease occurs. The first is high blood pressure. The second is diabetes.

Start with high blood pressure. When it’s present, it puts more pressure on the blood vessels, which causes damage. Over time, they narrow, which reduces the amount of blood that flows through the kidneys. That makes it harder for them to correctly remove waste and fluids from the blood, which in turn can increase blood pressure.

It’s estimated that about 33 percent of diabetics also have kidney disease. Diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than they should be. Kidneys are responsible for removing waste and excess fluid from the bloodstream. The high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels in the kidneys, which keeps the kidneys from working effectively.

Prevention is Key

If you have high blood pressure or diabetes, management of those underlying diseases is critical in keeping the kidneys healthy. People with high blood pressure need to use diet, exercise, and even medications to keep the blood pressure at ideal levels.

For diabetics, management of blood sugar levels through diet, exercise, and regular testing is important. If glucose or insulin are needed to balance high and low readings, make sure your parents understand how. They may need to work closely with medical professionals to do this.

They need to see their doctor as often as is recommended. It may be yearly exams or several exams a year. Monitoring blood pressure may be something your parents have to start doing each week at home. Checking blood sugar levels is going to happen several times a day.

If your mom and dad have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease, diet and exercise are important. You may need to encourage them to follow doctor’s orders. What if you don’t live close enough to stop by each day?

Talk to a home care agency about daily visits from professional caregivers. Caregivers can cook meals for your parents, encourage them to go for walks, and drive them to their different medical appointments. Caregivers become an integral part of the team helping keep your parents healthy.

Sources:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/preventing-problems/diabetic-kidney-disease
https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/about-chronic-kidney-disease

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Groveland, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Are Seniors Helpless Against Dementia?

Posted on by Craig Bass

While dementia and Alzheimer’s disease remain a scientific quandary, they are not as inevitable as we thought in the past.

The organic marker for dementia is a sticky plaque called amyloid beta. Amyloid beta shows up on the brain scans of people who are positive for dementia. But here’s the fascinating thing: Some very old people with obvious amyloid beta on their scans are sharp as a tack.

Dutch scientists recently completed a study of centenarians–people who live to be over one hundred, many of whom were quite astute and cognitively alert and capable. What they found is that the risk of developing dementia doesn’t get any worse after one hundred.

Age is the main risk factor for dementia, but people at a hundred are at no worse risk than folks at seventy-five.

Resilience Might Be the Key

The same ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity that gets people through a COVID-19 epidemic might be the same thing that saves some seniors from dementia. This ability to survive and thrive despite obstacles is called resilience.

And here’s the further good news. Most seniors are capable of resilience, even in the face of chronic health conditions, loss of body strength and flexibility, and reduction in income.

So how do seniors cultivate resilience? And how can you, as the adult child of a senior, encourage resilience?

Turns out, a lot of it comes down to attitude. Positive attitudes and hopefulness are strongly aligned with resilience. Other factors that play a role are:

  • Being able to do the acts of daily living on one’s own. That means people who can still cook, feed, and clean themselves, perhaps with difficulty but without help, are going to be more resilient.
  • Exercise. The relationship between exercise and staving off dementia is imperfectly understood, but we know there is a link between them.
  • Having a support group. The ideal support group for someone over sixty-five is a mix of loving family members, elder care professionals, compassionate neighbors, and peers. A support group is most effective if the senior feels that he brings value to all his relationships.

Elder Care Can Foster Resilience

Home care professionals who come to your parent’s home and provide a range of services can help a senior retain resilience or cultivate it. As needed, these home care aides provide stimulating conversation, help seniors learn new things, and find ways for seniors to adapt to health conditions and mobility losses.

In conclusion, new research suggests that dementia may be preventable up to a point in many older people. Even people in their nineties and over a hundred can maintain sharp brains. And resilience plays a large part in that. Encourage your senior to think positively, keep learning new things, and stay social.

Sources

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/dementia-alzheimers-inevitable-part-aging-study/story?id=75368488
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2775218

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Ferndale, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Why is Dance a Great Exercise for Your Parents?

Posted on by Craig Bass

Current recommendations for exercise are at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. How well do your parents do with this? They may not have found an exercise they love. Have you thought about dance?

Dance programs like Zumba or dance classes are good ways to get exercise and have fun. The physical activity helps ease stress, improve balance and muscle tone, and builds concentration and memorization skills, too. Here are the key benefits of dance as a form of exercise.

It Can Lower the Risk of Dementia

Dance works more than the muscles and joints. It also requires the brain to exercise as dance moves and counts are memorized. A waltz requires footwork to be completed in a series of 1, 2, 3 steps. That count and repetition help the brain with memory retention and recall.

It Helps With Balance and Muscle Tone

As you age, your muscles can weaken. Balance issues often occur and increase the risk of a fall. Dance helps keep the muscles toned. It also helps with balance skills.

One of the most important muscles in the body gets a workout during a dance. Dance is a cardio workout that helps protect and strengthen the heart. Thirty minutes of dance each day is a good start to improving heart health.

Arthritis Pain Decreases With Dance

Dance helps keep the joints exercised and limber thanks to a variety of movements. This can help ease arthritis pain and discomfort. As the pain decreases, dependence on medications like ibuprofen or aspirin also decreases.

It Eases Stress, Anxiety, and Even Depression

Exercise is good for the body, but it also helps the mind. Several studies took a look at how Dance Movement Therapy helped adults who were diagnosed with depression. The different groups ranged from having mild depression to severe depression. Each participant took some form of dance, and each group reported their depression eased.

Groups who were diagnosed with severe depression dropped to moderate depression. Some participants dropped to being diagnosed with minimal depression.

Learn to Dance

Your parents may need someone around to help them start a dance instruction or Zumba video. They may need someone to drive them to a studio for a dance class. Home care aides can do this.

With home care, your parents have someone to provide companionship, help with housework, and meal preparation services. That’s just the start. If there is a specific service you think would help your parents get more exercise, call a home care agency to discuss it.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6509172/

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care services in Yalaha, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

What Do You Need to Know about Getting Started as a Family Caregiver?

Posted on by Craig Bass

There’s a moment when you might suddenly realize that you’re a family caregiver and you didn’t expect it. You might have known that you would eventually be your senior’s caregiver, but things change quickly when it comes to helping someone you love with the challenges of aging. Getting started the right way, even if you’ve been caregiving longer than you realize, is important.

How Do You Know You Are a Family Caregiver?

For some family caregivers, the transition to being a full-time family caregiver is so subtle that they don’t realize what’s happened until they’re hip deep in caregiving. If you’re helping your senior with household chores, taking her to doctor’s appointments, and assisting in other ways, you’re performing caregiving tasks. You might only be doing so periodically, but you’re on the path to becoming a full-time family caregiver eventually.

You’re Facing Big Challenges

As a family caregiver, you’re facing some really big challenges now and in the future. You’re more likely to experience increased levels of stress and anxiety. You’re also more likely to experience some conflicts between your duties as a family caregiver and your other obligations. This is when things get really, really difficult. Remembering to take care of yourself and your needs is crucial, because if you don’t you’re going to find that these challenges are insurmountable.

You Need Information

In order to face those challenges, you need information. Talk to your senior’s doctor about what her health and other needs are so that you can start to put plans in place to meet those needs. You’re also going to need to do some outside learning. The more that you’re able to learn, the more you’ll grow as a family caregiver.

You Need Help

Something else that you need to accept now in order to start off on the right foot is that you’re going to need help as a family caregiver. If you put off getting help, that’s going to make things just that much more difficult for you down the road. Hiring senior care providers now, even just for intermittent help, allows both you and your senior to get used to the idea of having assistance now.

Becoming a full-time family caregiver is a big transition, both for you and for your senior. It takes a while to get used to your new circumstances, but it’s possible if you allow yourself to use the tools that are available.

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Mascotte, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Family Caregivers can Support Good Nutrition in Seniors

Posted on by Craig Bass

A senior’s nutritional level can greatly impact their overall physical and mental health. However malnutrition is on the rise, threatening the health and wellbeing of many seniors. It’s important for family caregivers of seniors to recognize the signs of malnutrition in seniors.

What is Malnutrition?

Malnutrition, or under-nutrition, is a condition in which a person doesn’t take in enough nutrients to meet their body’s health needs. The body needs certain amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fat, calories, vitamins and minerals to heal wounds, for energy, to thrive and to survive.

If a senior doesn’t take in enough nutrients, they may become more frail and develop a range of health conditions. Malnutrition affects the immune system, and they become more susceptible to infections and disease. They also experience more weakness, a higher risk for falls, fractures, hospitalizations and death.

What Contributes to Malnutrition?

A number of things contribute to malnutrition in seniors, including:

  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing
  • Problems with painful or missing teeth
  • Poorly fitting dentures
  • Mobility issues interfere with shopping, cooking or eating
  • Illness and chronic disease
  • Loneliness, depression
  • Certain medications
  • Alcohol misuse

Signs of Malnutrition in Seniors

Signs of malnutrition in seniors can be easy to miss, because sometimes they happen so gradually over a long period of time.

Signs of malnutrition may include:

  • A body mass index (BMI) of under 18.5
  • Unintentional weight loss
  • Clothing is too big
  • Rings become loose or fall off
  • Dentures become loose
  • Poor appetite or disinterest in eating and drinking
  • Fatigue or mood changes
  • Weakness

Family caregivers should watch for possible signs of malnutrition, weigh the senior weekly, and observe their eating habits for changes or concerns.

How Family Caregivers Can Support Good Nutrition

First and foremost, involve the senior’s doctor if you have any concern about their nutritional status. The doctor may recommend a consultation with a registered dietician, or other interventions. If there is any sign of tooth or denture trouble, schedule a trip to the dentist.

Many seniors find better nutrition when they:

  • Eating small meals 5-6 times per day, rather than 3 larger meals, which may be overwhelming.
  • Drink nutrient-rich fluids, such as whole milk, soup or supplement drinks. (Supplement drinks should be taken after eating a meal, not before, so they don’t get full before they eat.)
  • Focus on high calorie, high-protein foods such as cheese, peanut butter and greek yogurt.
  • Ensure foods that the senior likes are readily available.
  • Make mealtime social.
  • Get regular activity.

How Home Care can Help Support Good Nutrition

Family caregivers often turn to home care agencies for support with a senior’s nutrition. Home care aides can help with grocery shopping or meal preparation, which can make a big difference in having healthy, nutrient-rich appealing food available.

Home care aides can offer reminders or encouragement to eat and drink throughout the day. Home care aides can spend meal time with seniors, which can increase their intake and social interaction.

Home care aides can also help a senior stay active, which can promote a healthy appetite. Some seniors have their home care aides help them grow fresh garden greens and veggies, and then help them cook them up fresh. Holistic approaches like these can be very valuable for improving a senior’s nutrition, health and wellbeing.

Sources
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/caregivers/in-depth/senior-health/art-20044699
https://theconversation.com/malnutrition-is-on-the-rise-in-older-adults-how-to-spot-the-signs-129953

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Center Hill, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Can Dementia and Depression Exist at the Same Time?

Posted on by Craig Bass

Dementia is complicated enough, but your senior might be experiencing depression at the same time. This can be difficult to help her to manage, especially if her dementia has progressed to the point that she’s unable to communicate to you what’s wrong. There may be more that you can do for her than you thought possible, however.

People with Dementia Can Absolutely Be Depressed, Too

Depression can have a variety of different causes, and just because your senior has dementia that doesn’t mean that she can’t experience other issues as well. Anxiety can be a big part of dementia, because of the changes your elderly family member is experiencing. The same is true for depression. Your elderly family member has experienced a lot of loss through her experience with dementia and that can absolutely contribute.

It’s Harder to Spot

Depression can be difficult to spot at times on its own. When someone has dementia, though, depression can be even more difficult to spot. Depression can “hide” in the other symptoms of dementia and your elderly family member may not be able to openly communicate with you how she’s feeling. Watch for signs like withdrawing even more from people and from favorite activities. Other signs could include greater irritability than usual, excess fatigue, and unexplained crying.

Talk with Your Senior’s Doctor

Any time that you’re noticing changes in your senior’s typical behavior, it’s a good idea to talk to her doctor. There may be nothing unusual going on, but it could be something. Her doctor can rule out possible medical causes, including side effects from any medications that your senior is taking. From there, you can branch out to find other possible solutions.

Look for Other Ways to Help Ease Her Depression

Your senior’s doctor may recommend medication or other treatments, but there are other things you can do to help to ease her depression. Keeping her active and engaged in daily life can help, as can finding activities that she enjoys and wants to do. Social engagement can also be a factor. It might be a good idea to hire elderly care providers, both to offer additional help and to serve as someone else that your family member can engage with on a regular basis.

There is no one solution for depression, especially for someone with dementia. Keep trying to find the combination that works for your elderly family member.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elderly care in Yalaha, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

What Can Music Do for Your Elderly Loved One?

Posted on by Craig Bass

Music can be great to listen to, but there is much more to it than that. Research shows that there are numerous benefits to music for the elderly. It can trigger emotions, help one process their feelings, and improve overall well-being. This is just be beginning. Learn more here today about what music can do for your elderly loved one. Once you know the benefits of music for your loved one, you will understand why it is so important for your loved one to have music in their life.

Reducing Anxiety and Stress

One of the many things that music can do for your elderly loved one is to reduce their anxiety and stress levels. Research shows that listening to slow, calming music can help slow down thoughts. It can help with relaxation and stress relief. If you or a home care provider notice your loved one is stressed, turn on some slow music. Have your elderly loved one listen to it for a while and see what it can do for their stress levels.

Reducing Agitation

Another way that music can help your elderly loved one is by reducing their agitation. Your elderly loved one might become agitated when their life is chaotic. For example, when plans keep changing or when their routine keeps getting broken up, they might become agitated. If this happens, you or the home care provider may want to turn on some music that your loved one enjoys. It doesn’t have to be slow music. The type of music that best helps your elderly loved one relieve anger and frustrations would be best in this case.

Improving Emotional and Physical Closeness

If you and your elderly loved one are looking for something to bond over, music might be the solution. Maybe you need a way to help your loved one and their home care providers bond. Music can help with that, as well. There are so many different forms of music out there. It is likely that something your elderly loved one likes, you and their home care providers will like, as well. Listening to music together can be a great way to spend quality time together. It can also help your elderly loved one to feel closer to you.

Conclusion

These are some of the things that music can do for your elderly loved one. Now that you know about these amazing benefits, you can turn music on when your elderly loved one needs it. If you aren’t around, the home care providers can turn the music on. You, your elderly loved one, and the home care providers can bond over music, as well.

Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033614/

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Webster, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

How Could Your Senior Be Accidentally Making Heart Failure Worse?

Posted on by Craig Bass

Heart failure is a very serious illness and it can lead to declining health very quickly. Your elderly family member may find that after she’s diagnosed with heart failure it’s more important than ever that she takes her health seriously. Unfortunately, there are simple ways that she could accidentally worsen her heart failure.

She’s Getting Sick More Often

Your senior needs to avoid germs if she’s dealing with heart failure, which means being really careful around other people. She also need to practice excellent hygiene herself, with regular hand washing and cleaning surfaces regularly. That can be a lot to keep up with, though, so it might be a good idea to have elder care providers available to help her. If your elderly family member does get sick, contact her doctor right away to make sure you handle her symptoms properly.

Her Salt Intake Is Up

Salt and heart issues are usually incompatible, but that goes double for heart failure. If your elderly family member is eating too much salt, or even just more salt than she usually does, it might be causing her body to hold onto more fluid than it should. That makes her entire circulatory system, but especially her heart, work way too heart to move all that fluid. Cutting back on the salt is crucial, so that means reading labels, even on foods your senior trusts.

She’s Drinking Too Much Water

Believe it or not, your senior could be drinking a little too much water and that can cause problems for people with heart failure. Flushing out too many of the electrolytes and minerals your senior does need can be an issue, and it can cause her blood pressure to fluctuate, too. Talk to your senior’s doctor about what her target is for water intake and set up a plan to help her to aim for that amount every day.

She’s Not Taking Medications as Prescribed

One of the biggest issues with any medication is that it helps people to feel better and then they start to feel as if they don’t need that medication anymore. This can be disastrous for someone with heart failure. Even if your elderly family member is just forgetting to take a dose now and then, she could experience big problems from that. Find a way to help her to stay on target with her medications.

Always talk with your senior’s doctor when you’re not sure what’s going on with her heart health.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Groveland, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Is Low Blood Pressure Something to Be Concerned About?

Posted on by Craig Bass

Low blood pressure sounds like something that isn’t really a problem, but if blood pressure falls too low, it can definitely be a problem. Learning as much as possible about low blood pressure may be a good idea, especially if your senior’s blood pressure readings have been off the mark a bit.

Low Blood Pressure Defined

Low blood pressure sounds like it refers to blood pressure that is simply lower than normal, but it’s more complicated than that. The accepted norm for blood pressure is a measurement of 120 for the systolic, or upper, measurement and 80 for the diastolic measurement. Measurements higher than this are considered high blood pressure and can be dangerous long-term. Low blood pressure is typically diagnosed when the systolic measurement is lower than 90 and the diastolic reading is less than 60.

Low Blood Pressure Symptoms

If your elderly family member is experiencing low blood pressure she’s likely to be lightheaded or dizzy, especially when she stands after sitting or lying down. There are other possible problems, though. She may have trouble staying on task or she may experience periods of nausea. She may also mention that she feels cold all the time, particularly in her extremities. These are usually mild symptoms. More serious symptoms could include fainting or shallow breathing.

Possible Causes of Low Blood Pressure

Your senior’s cardiovascular health is a very important part of her issues with low blood pressure, but there may be other health issues that contribute. Dehydration can contribute to low blood pressure, so it may be important to pay closer attention to how well and how often your senior is hydrating. There are other possible causes for low blood pressure that your senior’s doctor can narrow down.

Treatment for Low Blood Pressure

Treating low blood pressure depends a great deal on what’s causing the problem in the first place. Increasing fluid intake, salt intake, and generally paying closer attention to her diet might be among the first steps. If there’s an underlying health issue, then treating that can resolve the issues she’s experiencing with low blood pressure. That may mean medications and other therapies recommended by your senior’s doctor.

As your elderly family member starts to deal with low blood pressure and how it impacts her life, she may find that having help from a caregiver is a good idea. This can also give you a measure of peace of mind.

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Center Hill, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.